10 days later

10 days after my last post, Miss H was born. Welcome sweet & precious little girl. You have been so  expected.

Helena Marie Kronbach Brescia

I love her name, and although I did consider Josephine, Amelie, (I guess I was on a French mood) and a few others, those were quickly scratched by Mr. K. He didn't give any reasons. Even though agreed on not naming our children after other people, we did realised that Helena made us think of Helen (Chuck's beautiful Grandma) and Marie reminded us of Maria Alicia and Maruja (both my grandmothers).

A beautiful little girl, weighed 3.370 Kg and measured 52 cm and has these gorgeous (full of cute rolls) legs.

Instagram was a huge help :)

   Yawnnnnn .....

cute little feet 

Los hermanitos más lindos 

Estoy tan enamorada de esta linda niña ... y feliz de tener una familia. 

Apple Picking in Steinsel - Idyllic or what?

Have you ever bitten an apple that you just picked off a tree? I hadn't ... before this past Sunday! I have seen fruits grow in Perú, some local ones, which here would be very exotic: mangoes, passion fruit, bananas. But truly with the exception of mangoes I had never enjoyed something immediately I picked it from a tree. It was delicious ...

We went to visit an apple farm in Steinsel, about 8 minutes from our house. They let you pick apples from 5-6 different kinds, you are allowed to try them and pick as many as you want. At the end you pay for them by weight. All very civilised.

It was a grey, drizzly day, but that did nothing to our apple picking spirit. In fact, it was so good to put an end to all our "hard work" by the sausage stand. There was also hot soup, freshly pressed apple juice, apple fritters, cider and all sorts of apple cakes. How can you beat that!?

Oh yeah, I forgot this was about the kids! Sebastian and his friends enjoyed the ride and had as much fun as the adults, ok maybe a little less?

I was secretly hoping the walk will help me start labour but there were no signs at all. The wait continues :)

- A

Will I miss the stairs?

Lately I find myself going up and down the stairs wherever I go. Instead of choosing the elevator, which some people like to remind me I should. Thankfully I find no offense on the comment and just say "no thank you, I prefer the stairs". In a few days I will have a stroller attached to me most of the time and I wont have the option ;-) 

 
So here, a toast to all the stairs, which help me keep moving !

- A

The belly is almost ready

My doctor says it could be anytime. It's week 38 and I am enjoying the pregnancy except for the odd neck pain. After the first 5 nauseous months, this is the good part! so baby #2 can stay a little longer if she needs to.

I took these photos with my phone, and I guess it shows a tiny belly. It's a little bigger but auto-photography with an iPhone is not my thing :)
 

Things at home are as ready as they will be, hmmm ... true, we don't have the stroller yet, but the store has said it will arrive near my due date: October 18th. Will I make it until then?

There is a full moon on October 12th, and that's what started my labour last time with Sebastian, so who knows? In the meantime, let's just enjoy ...

- A

Ben & Pepper: A cool little shop in Luxembourg

I was walking yesterday near my old office in Avenue de la Liberté and decided to check out this very cute shop "Ben & Pepper"

(Photo rights: Ben and Pepper)

The owners: Ben & Pepper are two former students, graphic design & photography, who spent a lot of time in Brighton. Their shop is absolutely gorgeous with unique pieces ranging from furniture to small stuff (great for a gift). They are also super friendly and happy to share information about their products and their shop.


It is one of those places that adds to the life in Luxembourg, much like Konrads! (*)

If you are ever near have a look and let me know what you think.

PS: Nope, I am note getting any commission for spreading the news, I wish! ;-)

(*) I couldn't find Konrad's own website so I slipped in Anne's Kitchen wonderful review

36 weeks and still "running!"

This is a totally obnoxiously ME post. So I am hoping not too many people are reading. This is to remind myself how good I felt through the pregnancy and relish on this part! As opposed to the first five months where I just had this "I-am-going-to-vomit-on-you" face (right now!) with no vomiting actually, which made things even worse... (for me of course).

Since I don't have a picture of me running, here is a photo taken yesterday (14/09/2011) :

About 2-3 times a week, after dropping off Sebastian at school I sneak out to park my car near the Grund and run. It is getting silly for two reasons:

1) I feel a little silly telling people what I am really off to when they ask me to join them for coffee, so I just say I have an appointment. And I am a terrible liar, so they probably see that I am lying just by looking at my face. I just cannot bear  the whole "what???? running??? " and then I feel like I am showing off. So I prefer a little white lie :)

2) It's actually pretty funny to see me running. Firstly because it's no longer a run, and secondly because a lot of people point or just look at me with their mouths open. It embarrasses me a little and also makes me a liiiitle proud.

Anyway, my doctor is totally fine with me running, he is also a runner and advised me to listen to my body and to watch out for uneven surfaces. The biggest risk is to fall. It's pretty incredible how good I feel during and after my runs. Most of the pains associated with the pregnancy: back pain, sciatica, joint pain, go away. And I am refreshed and feeling cheerful.

So that's about it, a completely pat-on-the back ME post.

Just got back from my check-up and all looks well. Due date 18 of October.

- A

Little French Paradise

This year our holiday was not near the sea ... kind of disconcerting, given our history. But when the holiday planning fell in the middle of another move and a pregnancy, you just kind of go along and "jump" at the chance. Lucky us, we have really organised and thoughtful friends who happened to book a house in the Dordogne region in France and invited us three to share a holiday week with them.

We started the trip a little worried, not having really researched anything about the place. We bought a guide a couple of days before our departure!  we even underestimated our travel plans by a few hours, well between 8-10 hours of car travel, there is not much difference really.

We left Luxembourg (a dreary and rainy Luxembourg week) and headed for the South West of France. Blue skies welcomed us a few hours into the trip and we fixed our smiles and looked ahead. Sebastian, the ever good traveler, wasn't even bothered by having to sit on his car-seat for that long.

And that's how we started a week in one of the many French heavens, La Dordogne, the land of foie gras, truffle and nuts.

Our house was a few minutes from Sarlat, a medieval village with a lot of beautiful spots, shutters painted in a very special shade of blue and little corners full of surprises. We had a great encounter with a shopkeeper who gave us 4 truffles and explained us how to make a good truffle omelet.

Sebastian enjoyed the whole week, Dad made pancakes more often than usual, we all jumped in the pool and the kids chased and run around enjoying the fresh air and the forest.

All in all a beautiful week. Now are we all ready for school???

The complete album here

- A

Seriously?

yes, it's true ... we moved again, by now, everyone reading this blog knows, not because of the blog updates but mostly because of facebook - which has become the latest on blog immediacy. Hasn't it?

In any case, I miss my blog and I miss updating it. Mostly because I think it will be great for Sebastian (and now for n2) to be able to read this later.

So, the delay in posts was brought on by two factors: #1 we moved again, this time back to Luxembourg and #2 well, I am expecting a #2! a little round baby girl whose name I am dreaming of  ;-)

We have space, we have plants, a bbq for Chuck and a trampolin!

Luxembourg has been good to us, although there is no denying I love and miss Lausanne and everything that came with it. But here we are! and always putting all my effort in making it all work out.

Hopefully it will ...